If you hang around under the bridge, you're going to find some stuff!

Monday, May 21, 2018

I stopped caring what everyone else wanted me to do with my art. And in some sense I assume a lot of people stopped caring about what I did...mostly because it did not fit into their preconceived ideas, nor did it add to their tribal movement. (Or maybe I just suck!) Clubs are great. We can belong to them, and we can hit people over the head with them. Take your pick, both are exclusionary, discriminatory...the ultimate excuse for cliques. Why am I so bitter today? Man, I need a vacation.

Something different:

Honey, have you seen my plane?
Yes, you left it right by your pants....like you always do!

Monday, May 7, 2018

Suddenly....no wait...Not suddenly....As a matter of fact as slowly as is usual.Spring has descended like the seeds of the cottonwood. Drifting, landing, accumulating.It happens e-v-e-r-y....s-i-n-g-l-e.....y-e-a-r!There is no fanfare to shake us up and remind us. It just happens and (mostly) we don't care. Well, except maybe as it applies to what we need to wear for the day to be comfortable.It's boring, especially when our experience of it is from an automobile travelling at 58.6666667 feet per second (40 mph). Or off in the distance we notice, "hey look the field is green".....and that's it. Over.Noted.Whatever.But those opinions are no matter to boring people like me. You see, some of us like to go right into the middle of those changes and watch them happen. There may be small swarms of caterpillars wandering the trails and in several weeks, we know moths or butterflies will be hovering about in all their splendor. Male bush-tit, phoebe and wren species will put on displays vying for mates. Mallards will defend their mates with vicious battles to win the right to procreate.Migratory species will descend thick and heavy. Some will mate and lay their eggs. Some will travel northward bound.There is a lot going on, but the only way to see it is to get in the middle of it (as unobtrusively as possible). The first years of doing this are great, but it's the subsequent following years that are most revealing. Patterns of species are realized, and certain beliefs can be challenged through simple observations.A renewed respect is inevitable, and the realization that we humans are so ignorantly pompous and self important almost always manifests itself.Recently, a fellow photographer bellowed the concern that ALL photographers need to become more political in their work. (Apparently very unhappy about the current political climate.) This paradigm seems to control much of the exhibitions across the board in public life. We Must Fight! We must Change (something). We Must We Must!!!That is ok I suppose....to be so wrapped up in a "cause" that every sweaty pore reeks of those self-important singular statements.At this point, I would need to apologize to that photographer, because I say NO. My observations of nature have zero correlation to politics, and I refuse to mix the two. Can we just for a moment consider the poison of telling anyone how they are supposed to approach their work. Maybe I like to look at things as the way they are and represent them how they uplift me, or send me to transcendental places. These are moments of joy. Why would you ask me to taint these intimate moments with politics? Think about it next time.That is not to say that I am not political, nor does it not escape my attention that we need to take better care of our earth. And it doesn't mean that I do not support political groups that are looking to that end. It just means that the filth of politics will stay out of my work, because regardless of how banal it may seem to everyone else, the beauty I attempt to convey is...enough said.Peace